Trip scheduling system

Abstract

Media, method and system for scheduling trips, and particularly for scheduling trip to transport vehicles from a pick-up location to a drop-off location. To accomplish this, interfaces are provided for describing the desired starting and ending locations for vehicles and automatically allocating drivers to vehicles for each segment of a desired trip and assigning any necessary tasks to the drivers to complete for each waypoint of the trip. Additionally, any other requirements for transporting the vehicles, such as insurance and temporary license plates, can automatically be provided for.

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following: 
     
       1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method of displaying an interface for a trip-scheduling system, the method comprising the steps of:
 displaying a location selection page operable to receive input of a plurality of locations from a user via a map interface; 
 displaying a vehicle selection page operable to receive input of an indication of a vehicle to be transported; 
 displaying a task selection screen operable to receive an indication of a task to be performed by the driver for the vehicle; 
 displaying a trip overview page operable to receive a selection of a pick-up location for the vehicle from the plurality of locations, a task location for the task for the vehicle from the plurality of locations, and a drop-off location for the vehicle from the plurality of locations; 
 determining a driver from a pool of available drivers to drive the vehicle from the pick-up location to the drop-off location; and 
 updating the trip overview page to reflect the driver driving the vehicle from the pick-up location to the drop-off location. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the user uses the vehicle selection screen to provide a plurality of indications indicating a plurality of vehicles to be transported. 
     
     
       3. The computer readable media of  claim 2 , wherein a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles and a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles have respectively a first pick-up location and a second pick-up location, and wherein the first pick-up location is distinct from the second pick-up location. 
     
     
       4. The computer readable media of  claim 2 , wherein a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles and a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles have respectively a first drop-off location and a second drop-off location, and wherein the first drop-off location is distinct from the second drop-off location. 
     
     
       5. The computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step of obtaining by-the-trip insurance from an insurance provider for transporting the vehicle from the pick-up location to the drop-off location. 
     
     
       6. The computer-readable media of  claim 5 , wherein the step of obtaining by-the-trip insurance further comprises the step of determining an insurance provider of a plurality of insurance provider to provide the by-the-trip insurance. 
     
     
       7. The computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step of obtaining a temporary license plate number for the vehicle useable while the vehicle is being transported form the pick-up location to the drop-off location. 
     
     
       8. The computer-readable media of  claim 7 , wherein the temporary license plate number for the vehicle is displayed on a digital license plate mountable on the vehicle. 
     
     
       9. The computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step of automatically transmitting a payment to the drivers account when the vehicle is delivered to the drop-off location. 
     
     
       10. The computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step of presenting, to the driver, a survey regarding the vehicle after the vehicle has been delivered to the drop-off location. 
     
     
       11. The computer-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the survey is presented to the driver based on the driver's demographics. 
     
     
       12. The computer-readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the driver is determined based on a selection by the user. 
     
     
       13. A computer-implemented method of scheduling a trip, via a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:
 displaying a selection page operable to receive input of a plurality of locations from a user; 
 displaying a vehicle selection page operable to receive input of an indication of a vehicle to be transported; 
 receiving an indication of a first vehicle to be transported from a first pick-up location of the plurality of locations to a first drop-off location of the plurality of locations via a first intermediate task location where a first task for the first vehicle is to be performed; 
 receiving an indication of a second vehicle to be transported from a second pick-up location of the plurality of locations to a second drop-off location of the plurality of locations via a second intermediate task location where a second task for the second vehicle is to be performed; 
 determining a first driver to transport the first vehicle from the first pick-up location to the first drop-off location via the first task location; 
 determining a second driver to transport the second vehicle from the second pick-up location to the second drop-off location via the second task location; 
 displaying a trip overview page including the first pickup location, the first drop-off location, the first driver, the second pick-up location, the second drop-off location, and the second driver. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first vehicle is transported to the first drop-off location while the second vehicle is being transported to the second drop-off location. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first pick-up location is distinct from the second pick-up location and the first drop-off location is distinct from the second drop-off location. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a first by the trip insurance policy for transporting the first vehicle to the first drop-off location; and 
 obtaining a second by-the-trip insurance policy for transporting the second vehicle to the second drop-off location; and 
 wherein the first by-the-trip insurance policy and the second by-the-trip insurance policy are obtained from distinct insurance providers.